44 per cent of Christmas gift searches to be via mobile

December 16th, 2011, 00:39 Posted By: wraggster

Google revealed the figures and says although the economy is tough, advertisers with mobile specific campaigns targeting smartphone users can prosper over traditional methods.
The report says while 44 per cent of shoppers are to search for Christmas presents on mobile, it has more than doubled from 20 per cent last year.
Both of which, are huge leaps from under two per cent in 2008 and even last month when mobile accounted for just 15 per cent of the online total, according to Google.
The search giant claims once Christmas and Boxing Day have passed and a temporary search dip is over, mobile searches will grow by 35 per cent, while desktop will increase by two per cent.
Google says results from the past two years has revealed the UK market usually receives a triple spike in mobile search during the festive season, which is growing 166 per cent year-on-year.

http://www.mobile-ent.biz/news/read/...-mobile/016497

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UK CHARTS: November 2011

December 15th, 2011, 00:51 Posted By: wraggster

At last, UK games retail has reason to cheer following a strong month of sales. But November wasn’t all about Call of Duty:?Modern Warfare 3 and Assassin’s Creed:?Revelations.
Back in?2009, terrified publishers ran away from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, delaying their games into 2010.
This year, Activision's competition did no such thing, and November was chock full of big releases. In fact, one publisher dared release its title in the same week as the FPS.
Hats off to Bethesda. The firm knew it had a quality game on its hands (Metacritic score of 96) and backed it strongly. As a result, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim was the month’s second biggest seller.
That’s not to say the congested schedule was a good thing.
Ubisoft had a good month thanks to Assassin’s Creed: Revelations and Just Dance 3. However, the predecessor for both of these games charted higher in November 2010.
It was the same story for Need for Speed. This year’s title The Run crossed the finishing line in 17th place, whereas 2010’s Hot Pursuit reached No.8. The Run also didn’t score as well critically. But with the talent at its disposal, we can expect EA to get the series back on track for its next lap.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/uk-ch...er-2011/088579

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Games cost 27% less in the UK than Germany

December 15th, 2011, 00:41 Posted By: wraggster

Admittedly, we can’t afford to drive our cars or heat our homes, but at least gaming remains affordable in the UK.
That’s the finding of price comparison site Idealo, which claims that on average PS3 games are 25.4 per cent cheaper in the UK than in major European market Germany.
Xbox 360 games are 24.9 per cent cheaper, while PC games are an eye-watering 32.6 per cent cheaper. Overall that averages out as a 27.3 per cent price difference.
The report analysed top chart title released between June and December 2011.
It claims that the average price of an Xbox 360 game during the period was £33.94 compared to €49.13 (£41.76) in Germany. PS3 games in the UK cost £33.34 in the UK and €48.78 (£41.43) in the UK.
For the biggest titles such as Call of Duty: Modern warfare 3 and Battlefield 3, the price disparity was even larger – 35 per cent.
VAT rates between the two countries differ by only a single per cent. However, the relative weakness of Sterling throughout the period will have no doubt played a large factor in the results.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/games...germany/088647

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R18+ supporter O'Connor leaves Australian home affairs role

December 15th, 2011, 00:27 Posted By: wraggster

Progress on an R18+ classification for Australia could face further delays after Brendan O'Connor, formerly the Australian federal minister for home affairs, and supporter of the move for a R18+ rating for the country, has changed roles.
After a cabinet reshuffle O'Connor was renamed minister for Human Services, with Materiel Jason Clare taking over his role.
Last month O'Connor revealed the final guidelines for the new class-action, and stated that he would introduce it on February of next year. New minister Jason Clare's views on the R18+ rating are as yet unknown.
Earlier this year O'Connor said the lack of R18+ rating was making Australia look foolish.
"We're becoming the laughing stock of the developed world, where we're the only country that doesn't have an R18 classification level for video games."

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...e-affairs-role

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Obsidian: Digital should 'stab used games market in the heart'

December 14th, 2011, 00:02 Posted By: wraggster

South Park and Fallout New Vegas developer Obsidian has made its feelings on pre-owned games pretty damn clear.
In an interview with IndustryGamers, chief creative officer Chris Avellone championed the power of digital distribution, hoping that it kills off trade-ins at traditional retail as soon as possible.
"Of course, one of the greatest things about digital distribution is what it does to reduce the used games market," he said. "I hope digital distribution stabs the used game market in the heart."
He pointed to the flexibility Obsidian enjoyed when developing DLC for its 2010 release Fallout: New Vegas, where the team "could take an extra week if you needed that to get things right" and "didn't have to worry about production time for discs".
Avellone even said he wants the studio to distribute its own games in future.
"Our eventual hope is that we can stockpile enough resources to release our own titles digitally," he said. "Smaller games can be very satisfying projects to work on, and it would be great to do that. But it's going to take time for us to get there; we want to make sure we do it right."

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/obsid...e-heart/088572

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Today only: 40% off just about everything on Origin

December 13th, 2011, 00:26 Posted By: wraggster

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Nokia N900 control pad is perfect for gaming on the go

December 12th, 2011, 23:48 Posted By: wraggster


[Andrzej] loves his Nokia N900, noting that it makes a great portable gaming device. Since it supports a wide array of emulators, it’s perfect for indulging his gaming nostalgia on the go. He says that the one downside to the N900 is that its keyboard doesn’t make gaming easy, nor comfortable.
To make gaming a big more fun, he built himself an add-on gamepad that fits perfectly over the phone’s keyboard. Connected via the phone’s USB port, it features 8 push buttons along with a PSP joystick. He used an ATmega8A as the brains of the controller, communicating with the phone as a USB keyboard. He says that this sort of configuration makes it extremely easy to do all sorts of custom button mapping on a per-game basis.
As you can see in the picture above the controller is currently lacking a case, but we think that with a bit of clever packaging, it could look as nice as a retail add-on.
Check out the short video below to see his gamepad in action.

http://hackaday.com/2011/12/12/nokia...ing-on-the-go/

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Price drops see Skyrim take UK number 1

December 12th, 2011, 23:44 Posted By: wraggster

Bethesda's massive open-world RPG Skyrim has jumped four places in the UK software chart to first place for the first time since release, thanks largely to an average discount of £13 at retail.

Sales of the game were up 145 per cent since last week.

Previous leader Modern Warfare 3, on top of the chart since its release five weeks ago, slipped down to second with a seven per cent drop in sales with Just Dance 3 jumping by 47 per cent to take third.

Elsewhere, Christmas discounting also paid off for Uncharted 3, returning to the top ten after a three week absence to come in ninth after heavy promotion.

Last Week This Week Title
5 1 Skyrim
1 2 Modern Warfare 3
4 3 Just Dance 3
2 4 FIFA 12
3 5 Assassin's Creed: Revelations
9 6 Battlefield 3
7 7 Professor Layton and the Spectre's Call
6 8 Saints Row: The Third
16 9 Uncharted 3
8 10 Mario Kart 7
11 11 Mario and Sonic at the 2012 Olympic Games
10 12 Super Mario 3D Land
12 13 Need For Speed: The Run
18 14 Forza Motorsport 4
15 15 Batman: Arkham City
19 16 LEGO Harry Potter Years 5-7
20 17 Zumba Fitness
17 18 Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure
Re-Entry 19 Michael Jackson: The Experience
New Entry 20 ABBA: You Can Dance

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...ke-uk-number-1

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NPD: modest growth at US retail in November

December 12th, 2011, 23:30 Posted By: wraggster

Total US videogame sales at retail rose by 0.4 per cent last month, grossing $3 billion in total, according to market research firm NPD Group.
That modest growth comes despite declines in sales of hardware - which fell nine per cent despite an increase in unit sales because prices are lower than this time last year - and accessories. With no equivalent to last year's Kinect release, sales fell by 34 per cent.
The only sector to grow year on year was software, which rose 15 per cent thanks to a packed release schedule, setting a new record for November game sales. The month's best-selling title was, of course, Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, which beat predecessorBlack Ops' launch month sales by 7 per cent.
Xbox 360 was the best-selling system for a fourth consecutive month, with the gap between it and its nearest competitor the largest in almost three years. NPD expects December's results to show a year-on-year decline of up to three per cent.
01. Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (Activision)
02. Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Bethesda)
03. Battlefield 3 (EA)
04. Assassin's Creed: Revelations (Ubisoft)
05. Just Dance 3 (Ubisoft)
06. Madden NFL 12 (EA)
07. Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (Sony)
08. Saints Row: The Third (THQ)
09. The Legend Of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Nintendo)
10. Batman: Arkham City (Warner Bros)

http://www.next-gen.biz/news/npd-mod...etail-november

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Saturday Soapbox: Was 2011 a Vintage Year?

December 11th, 2011, 00:58 Posted By: wraggster

A couple of weeks back, Oli told of how he spoke to a friend who believed that 2011 was the finest year for gaming since 2001 - and then promptly disagreed, saying how this year, for all that it's offered in terms of excellence, hasn't really offered anything particularly new. Games are now bigger and better, yes, but that heady thrill that defined gaming's last golden age is now gone.He's right, of course. The two titles that, in my mind, are 2011's best - and that's Portal 2 and Skyrim - are retreads, iterations that expand upon templates that, in Portal's case, had perhaps already been perfected before. Elsewhere, it's hard not to be disheartened by the thickening glut of lookalike shooters, or other games with pretensions of innovation merely offering up old ideas that have been twisted, bent or just plain misappropriated.I'll come clean though. I was that friend, and it's a belief that I still stand by. 2011 has been a vintage year, not necessarily for the same rush of novelty that we saw a decade ago, but for different reasons altogether. And they're reasons that I think are just as important as the sharp thrill of the new, even if it's admittedly a less raw excitement that they offer.It's important, first of all, to realise that the giddy euphoria of a year that brought us the bold innovations of GTA 3, Super Monkey Ball, Halo and Pikmin to name but a few is most likely lost to us, perhaps forever. 10 years ago, gaming was still in the throes of its own puberty: moody, unpredictable and occasionally incomprehensible but with its every action infused with an electric thrill of the unknown./7 The Binding of Isaac, which filtered Zelda through a roguelike structure, was one of many offbeat delights to be had in 2011.



For better and for worse, the last 10 years have seen the medium settle down into a smoother, more sedate rhythm. There's the famous assertion that there are only seven stories in literature, those base models twisted and repurposed ad infinitum. I think that, after a handful of decades of experimentation, we've begun to settle upon our own templates, ones that will likely be at the backbone of games for many years to come.We've lost the shocks, but we've gained a maturity that allows games - within a framework that's now been well defined - to experiment and to iterate. It's this kind of experimentation that can concoct an experience like Portal 2 - a game that doesn't quite achieve the delicately chiselled perfection that its predecessor did, but one that still manages to expand upon the original and create, arguably, gaming's first real comedy. A comedy that was defined as much by the player's actions as it was by the game's script, a facet that's further explored in the wondrous slapstick of Portal 2's co-op mode.Skyrim, on the other hand, is the 14th release in the Elder Scrolls series - and its horrendously compelling fantasy world is a product of each game before it, its allure a result of the 17 years of tinkering and iteration that preceded it. It's not a new experience, but in Bethesda's well-established template of hundreds of stories threaded across rugged landscapes, bigger and better's certainly something to be grateful for.Other highlights of 2011 have been the fruits of a Nintendo in panic mode, as it sought to satisfy 3DS owners who had been bereft of decent software for much of the year as well as seeing off the Wii and celebrating Link's 25th birthday in the space of three heady weeks. Nintendo's games have long been well-defined; the core appeal of Mario has been set since his first leap in 1985's Super Mario. Bros, and it's an appeal that has remained unaltered ever since, with Nintendo simply managing to frame it in ever more inventive ways.1/14 Portal 2 maybe wasn't as perfect as its predecessor, but it was a game that was happy to experiment within an existing framework.


For all of its structural innovation, Skyward Sword's the same story at heart as the one told 25 years ago. But in this year's Zelda game we have the most confident retelling and restructuring of those base elements since Majora's Mask, and in Super Mario 3D Land we have Nintendo, once more, introducing a new dimension to its mascot with a game that overflows with imagination. It's not as groundbreaking as Mario 64, of course, but it is in its own way every bit as enjoyable.But it's not really Nintendo, Bethesda or Valve - or, for that matter, any of the names behind what's been, however you look at it, a strong year for big-budget games - that have made 2011 a year to remember. It's the names, too countless to list, of indie developers that have helped broaden the scope of gaming to a degree never seen before.Games like Bastion, From Dust, The Binding of Isaac, Where Is My Heart?, To The Moon or Don't Take It Personally, Babe, It Just Ain't Your Story are just a handful of examples of the esoteric offerings to be found on the App Store, Steam, Xbox Live Arcade, PSN or indeed just lurking on the internet. The digital distribution that's enabled such experiences isn't a phenomenon that's unique to 2011, but it's this year when independent gaming first felt like a viable alternative to more mainstream fare, when its momentum opened it up to a wider audience.It's allowed for games in which Werner Herzog sits proudly on top of the high-score board, for abstract portraits of a family day out told through a Mondrian filter, and for extended and ultimately touching ruminations on love and loss. It's made for inverted fairy tales, or god games that are touched with a muted mysticism that's normally the preserve of cinema's masterpieces.It's made for a gaming landscape that's brilliantly, and thrillingly, diverse. The thrill is gone, but in its place we've a breadth and maturity that's arguably never been seen before - and it's contributed to what's been perhaps one of gaming's true vintage years.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...e-year-opinion

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Argos withdraws from pre-owned market

December 10th, 2011, 23:57 Posted By: wraggster

Generalist retailer Argos has ceased offering second-hand video games.
MCV understands this extends to Argos' bricks-and-mortar outlets, with all stores instructed to stop accepting or selling pre-owned video games.
The company's website previously allowed customers to check how much credit they would receive for selected titles, but now states: "We no longer offer a video games trade-in service".
MCV has contacted Argos for further comment.
The retailer entered the pre-owned market back in March 2010, trialling the scheme in its North East stores. It later rolled out its trade-in offer to all stores in July 2010.
Argos' venture into pre-owned sales followed those of Tesco and Asda, making it one of the first mass market retailers to take on the likes of GAME and Gamestation in this sector.
We reflected on the questionable progress of generalists in the trade-in market back in October. You can read our conclusions by clicking here.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/argos...-market/088430

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Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim named most played game of 2011

December 10th, 2011, 23:39 Posted By: wraggster

Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim has been named the most played title of 2011 by game-tracking and social network service Raptr.
<FIGURE style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; WIDOWS: 2; TEXT-TRANSFORM: none; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); TEXT-INDENT: 0px; MARGIN: 0px 0px 20px 20px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; WIDTH: 300px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; DISPLAY: block; FONT: ; WHITE-SPACE: normal; ORPHANS: 2; FLOAT: right; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; LETTER-SPACING: normal; COLOR: rgb(68,68,68); CLEAR: both; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; WORD-SPACING: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; background-clip: initial; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-origin: initial" class="article-image article-image-alt article-image-300"></FIGURE>Raptr is the firm behind a game-tracking application that covers more than ten million users across console and PC, although due to data restrictions, its inaugural Most Played Awards don't factor in Wii and PS3 playtime.Skyrim was most played game and most played RPG title, while Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 was the most played shooter.
Batman: Arkham City was named most played open-world game, FIFA 12 most played sports game, The Sims Social most played social game, and LA Noire most played new IP.
Raptr CEO Dennis Fong said: "2011 is turning out to be a boon for gamers, and our awards highlight how gamers are investing the most amount of their precious time playing every day."

http://www.computerandvideogames.com...-game-of-2011/

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November NPD: A new record, with Xbox 360 joined by MW3 and Skyrim on top

December 10th, 2011, 00:10 Posted By: wraggster

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Vaz calls for discussion on "harmful" video games

December 10th, 2011, 00:06 Posted By: wraggster

MP Keith Vaz has asked that the House Of Commons hold a debate over the effects of video games, supporting the move with a recently published study showing that games can physically affect the brain.
"Could we have a debate next week about the harmful effects of violent video games?" he requested.
"Last week, the university of Indiana published research that showed that regularly playing those games resulted in physical changes in the brain."
Vaz was referring to a study by the University of Indiana's School Of Medicine which used MRI scan to track changes in the activity of adult males exposed to violent video games.
According to DailyTech the study was funded by The Center for Successful Parenting, an organisation that describes its mission as "changing our culture to protect children from unhealthy media in all formats," and is broadly anti video games.
"At a time when parents are thinking of purchasing video games for Christmas, does the right hon. Gentleman not think that it is important to hold a debate on this matter?" asked Vaz.
"This is not about censorship - it is about protecting our children."
Vaz is known for his strong anti-games stance, and in the past has called for a ban on Rockstar's Bully, supported the ban of Manhunt 2, and recently criticised Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 for itscontroversial London bombing scene.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...ul-video-games

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Software Sales Monitor: UK market climbs to £62.2m

December 9th, 2011, 00:13 Posted By: wraggster

The UK games market generated £62.2m last week, up 13.9 per cent over the seven days prior. Unit sales also rose 19.6 per cent from 1.9m to 2.2m in the first week of December.
Activision’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 beat down the competition again last week, topping the charts ahead of FIFA 12 and Assassin’s Creed: Revelations. The CoD game also halted its weekly sales decline, with two per cent more units sold.
Sales were strong for portable games last week. Nintendo had three titles in the Top Ten including DS puzzler Professor Layton and the Spectre’s Call at No.7, new 3DS release Mario Kart 7 at No.8 and Super Mario 3D Land at No.10.
There’s very few new games left to come out this year, but retail can still expect sales to grow as we hurtle towards Christmas

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/softw...o-62-2m/088358

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The top 10 hottest gift cards this xmas

December 8th, 2011, 14:43 Posted By: wraggster

Want to get a Gift card as a pressie, then heres the best of the lot:

1.

Amazon Gift Card ($20)
With four delivery options (Email, Facebook, Print and Mail), Amazon gift cards offer maximum convenience — and a wide array of redemption options.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/gc/ref=topnav_giftcert


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. Amazon Kindle Gift Card ($40)
The explosive launch of the Kindle Fire make this the gift of the most-wished-for product on Amazon. Can be redeemed for a device, accessory, or eBooks.


http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.htm...cId=1000645851


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.

iTunes Gift Card ($25)

An iTunes Gift Card lets you shop for anything at the iTunes store – 24 hours a day, 7 days a week


http://www.amazon.com/iTunes-ITunes-.../dp/B0045EE4KE


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.

Apple Gift Card ($40)

Treat a loved one to a new iPhone, iPod, computer, or Apple accessory.


http://www.ebay.com/ctg/Apple-Gift-C...t_Certificates


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.

eBay Gift Card ($75)

Pick from millions of gifts on eBay with one of these gift cards.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/270844241055#ht_869wt_883


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6. Applebees Gift Card ($25)
Give the gift of a good meal: join your neighbors at Applebees for delicious food, friendly service and a hometown atmosphere.

http://www.amazon.com/Applebees-Gift.../dp/B002UL9QMK


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7.

BP Gas Gift Card ($100)

Help friends and family save on holiday travel costs with a BP Gas gift card!


http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?rt=nc...=p4528.c0.m301


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8.

Gamestop Gift Card ($50)

With over 6,100 stores throughout the world, Gamestop is like Disneyland for gamers everywhere.


http://www.amazon.com/GameStop-Gift-.../dp/B0041EDQ5C


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9.

Kohl’s Gift Card ($65)

Give the gift of great style at practical prices with a Kohl’s gift card!

http://www.amazon.com/Kohls-Gift-Car.../dp/B005CK13YA


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
10.

Walmart Gift Card ($50)

All the essentials and more — give the gift of a Walmart gift card.


http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=walmart+gift+card

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Japan chart: Mario Kart 7 soars, Zelda plummets

December 8th, 2011, 00:01 Posted By: wraggster

Good news/bad news for Nintendo in this week's Japanese sales charts. Mario Kart 7 got off to a storming start but Zelda: Skyward Sword dropped like a stone in its second week.The Mario Kart series' 3DS debut entered the chart at number one, selling a whopping 423,619 copies, ahead of a new PlayStation 3 Gundam title at number two.Super Mario 3D Land rose to three, with sales up an impressive 20 per cent week-on-week to 73,907.The PlayStation 3 version of Assassin's Creed: Revelations entered at number four, selling 39,947 copies, while last week's number one, Zelda: Skyward Sword, dropped to five. Sales of Link's new Wii adventure slumped 83 per cent to 32,191.Here's the full top 20, as seen on Andriasang:

1. Mario Kart 7 (Nintendo, 3DS): 423,619 - NEW
2. Gundam Extreme VS. (Namco Bandai, PS3): 349,756 - NEW
3. Super Mario 3D Land (Nintendo, 3DS): 73,907 (Life to date: 634,868)
4. Assassin's Creed: Revelations (Ubisoft, PS3): 39,947 - NEW
5. Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Nintendo, Wii): 32,191 (227,169)
6. Fortune Street (Square Enix, Wii): 27,640 - NEW
7. Kirby's Adventure (Nintendo, Wii): 27,352 (282,917)
8. Power Pro Kun Pocket 14 (Konami, DS): 24,512 - NEW
9. Kamen Rider Climax Heroes Forze (Namco Bandai, PSP): 23,327 - NEW
10. The King of Fighters XIII (SNK Playmore, PS3): 21,525 - NEW
11. Kamen Rider Climax Heroes Forze (Namco Bandai, Wii): 21,379 - NEW
12. Poképark 2: Beyond the World (The Pokémon Company, Wii): 19,937 (89,678)
13. Wii Party (Nintendo, Wii): 19,155 (2,055,777)
14. Just Dance Wii (Nintendo, Wii): 18,070 (248,338)
15. 7th Dragon 2020 (Sega, PSP): 17,175 (139,673)
16. One Piece Gigant Battle! 2 (Namco Bandai, DS): 16,915 (160,356)
17. Taiko Drum Master Wii Ultimate Version (Namco Bandai, Wii): 16,669 (48,767)
18. Little Battle eXperience Boost (Level-5, PSP): 16,596 (77,323)
19. Wii Sports Resort Wiimote Plus Pack (Nintendo, Wii): 15,856 (680,079)
20. Tekken Hybrid (Namco Bandai, PS3): 14,195 - NEW

New entries to look out for next week include Capcom juggernaut Monster Hunter Tri G on 3DS. The PlayStation Vita follows the week after.Over on the hardware chart, almost all platforms saw a sales bump, though none quite as dramatic as the 3DS. Sales of Nintendo's resurgent handheld nearly doubled week-on-week to 205,962.The PlayStation 3 held on to second place with 40,668 units sold, followed by the PSP, Wii, DS and Xbox 360.

1. 3DS: 205,962 (Last week: 120,920)
2. PlayStation 3: 40,668 (34,031)
3. PSP: 39,547 (33,151)
4. Wii: 31,071 (20,148)
5. DSi XL: 2899 (2237)
6. Xbox 360: 1660 (1678)
7. PS2: 1500 (1294)
8. DSi: 1516 (993)
9. DS Lite: 21 (35)

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Japan: Super Mario 3D Land tops November sales

December 7th, 2011, 23:36 Posted By: wraggster

The first 3DS Mario adventure outpaced its closest competitor by more than two to one in Japan’s November sales chart, ending a poor run of software sales for Nintendo’s latest console.
Super Mario 3D Land sold 542,842 copies between October 31 and November 27, according to Famitsu figures reported by Andriasang.
It was followed on the monthly chart by Sega’s Hatsune Miku Project Diva Extend for PSP and Square Enix published Call Of Duty Modern Warfare 3 for PS3, which shifted 234,627 and 227,219 units respectively.
3DS has topped the weekly Japanese hardware rankings since itsmid-August price cut, but the console’s sales momentum is only now being matched by that of its software. Mario 3D Land sold 343,492 copies in its first week of availability, the best launch on record for a 3DS game, although Nintendo president Satoru Iwatasaid yesterday its performance has been surpassed by Mario Kart 7, a feat that will be confirmed when Media Create reveals its latest sales data tomorrow.
01. Super Mario 3D Land (Nintendo)
02. Hatsune Miku Project Diva Extend (Sega)
03. Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 Subtitled Version (Square Enix)
04. Zelda Skyward Sword (Nintendo)
05. Final Fantasy Type-0 (Square Enix)
06. Battlefield 3 (EA)
07. Uncharted 3 (Sony)
08. Sengoku Basara 3 Utage (Capcom)
09. One Piece Gigant Battle 2 New World (Namco Bandai)
10. Ore No Shikabane Wo Koete Yuke (Sony)

http://www.next-gen.biz/news/japan-s...november-sales

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Epic: Games business is "shockingly immature"

December 7th, 2011, 23:23 Posted By: wraggster

Although a great industry for entrepreneurs to thrive, the business of making games is still "shockingly immature" according to Epic Games president Mike Capps.
Speaking in an exclusive interview published today, Capps said that there needs to be more shared learning, content and experiences for the industry to grow bigger and better, and his company is dedicated to furthering the greater good of the games business.
"Our games industry is shockingly immature from a business perspective, because so few folks have business experience before coming in, or an education for business," he said.
"It's awesome because it's entrepreneurship gone right, that's what our industry comes from, and that's really exciting, but there's not a lot of sharing, there's not a lot of great game business 'how to' books, so we try to share and people listen to us, for some reason, and we try to learn as much as we can from everybody else and their mistakes. It just seemed like the right thing to do."
It's awesome because it's entrepreneurship gone right, but there's not a lot of sharing, there's not a lot of great game business 'how to' books

Mike Capps, Epic Games

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Video Gamers Advancing Genetic Research

December 7th, 2011, 23:01 Posted By: wraggster

From McGill's news site: 'Thousands of video game players have helped significantly advance our understanding of the genetic basis of diseases such as Alzheimer's, diabetes and cancer over the past year. They are the users of a web-based video game developed by Dr. Jérôme Waldispuhl of the McGill School of Computer Science and collaborator Mathieu Blanchette. Phylo is designed to allow casual game players to contribute to scientific research by arranging multiple sequences of coloured blocks that represent human DNA. By looking at the similarities and differences between these DNA sequences, scientists are able to gain new insight into a variety of genetically-based diseases.'"Hopefully Phylo will be as successful as Foldit.

http://games.slashdot.org/story/11/1...netic-research

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